Taking it Easy!

This week we have been taking it easy. Monday, Virginia and I went down to Gastonia to have lunch with Susan and DJ some of my friends from the Gazette. It was good getting to catch up with them. Very soon Susan will be joining the mother club and will have a beautiful baby girl.

We also went and visited with Grandma and Grandpa Ford. Aunt Susan and Cousin Samantha made a special trip up to play also. I always enjoy watching Virginia and Samantha play together. It was so funny, Virginia went to kiss Samantha and caught her on the lips. We all had to laugh and I said, " Now we don't need kissing cousins."

The rest of the week was pretty much a snooze. I spent most of the days cleaning around the house. I did decide that I am going to try to finish Dear John, the book that I got half way though and just hit a wall trying to finish. I also put in a request at the library to check out The Help when it comes available. Unfortunately, I am 25th on the long waiting list, I may end up just going and buying the book.

Virginia spent her time playing and running back and forth checking out her new friends. Since we have put up our bird feeders we have discovered we do have squirrels in the neighborhood. The squirrels and birds are Virginia's new best friends. Every morning she will come in and eat her breakfast and then she runs back to her room to see if Mr. and Mrs. squirrel are out eating their breakfast. The squirrels are a little better then the birds about handling Virginia's knocking on the window and just pure excitement.

Friday was the same, house work and then lounging around watching tv.  Every day when Reiggin gets home Virginia will jump up and go running to him. Usually she will get him to take her back to our bed so they can jump and play on the bed. This Friday was no different. Except when I went to check on them I found Virginia under the covers lounging while watching her favorite cartoons with Daddy. It was just too cute, usually Virginia hates being under any covers or blankets. I let them relax as I went and picked up some pizza and wings for dinner. I call that a pretty good start to our weekend.

Word of the Day....

Word of the day is Motivation,  the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. As I say this I hear Elmo in my head saying motivation really slow. You think I watch to much Sesame Street and PBS Kids? 

Lately me and motivation have not been best of friends. Actually I believe we are not on speaking terms. I just can't seem to find the energy to get motivated to clean house or push forward with my plans for the future. 

The rainy gray day we are having today is not helping me get motivated. But I am determined this week to get motivated and do a deep cleaning of the house. Maybe at least clean the first layer of dirt in the house. Baby steps, baby steps is what I am telling myself. I am trying to go room by room and organize and clean the mess. As my mom always says, " Keep your house clean because you never know when someone will stop by." This is so true, I don't know how many times I have been caught with a messy house.

My friend Lisa Harland, is an inspiration for me. We both are either a stay at home mom or stay at home wife. We always discuss how we just can't get motivated to clean house. Lisa mentioned to me last week she finally sat down and made a list of chores to do each day. She said making a list of chores for each day helps her keep busy. I also feel a list would be nice because that way if I do a little a day it won't seem so overwhelming. Now I just got to find motivation to make that list. If you see motivation will you please tell him that I am looking for him.

Speaking of motivation, I have decided to jump back on the book club wagon. I believe I am going to start to read The Help with my good friends Laura Kirkpatrick, Lisa Harland, and Susan Roberts. I guess I should inform them that I have decided to get the book club back up and in action. Hopefully they will take me back after my poor performance with Dear John.

To wrap this help I would like to ask all of you to be my sponsors and keep check of me to see if I am staying motivated and on top of my game.

My Mother....

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend. I try my best though out the year to show my love to my mom and not just on one special day. It still feels funny that I get to take part in this day as a mommy along side my mother. I still feel like that immature little kid that lives with my parents and wants so badly to sleep past noon. Then I see Virginia my daughter running around the house like a crazy kid. Then it hits me I am a mommy. I am responsible for this crazy kid that is wrecking my house. Also that I would do anything and lay down my life for this little girl.

My mother has been the best role model for me though out the years. It still amazes me that she raised all three of us girls. She worked a full time job, made us breakfast, and had dinner on the table every day. She also still loves me enough to still invite me to come home every weekend to see her. Now maybe it is more to see Virginia, but I know she loves me too. I just hope that as the years go by that I will get closer to being as good as a mom as my mother was to me.

So I just want to say how much I love you Mom and thanks for putting up with me for all these years. I would also like to wish all my friends that are now moms a Happy Mother's Day!

Green Thumb in the Making

By the end of the summer I will be able to mark off number 18. Plant a garden and not kill everything I plant. off my Life List. Reiggin and I  decided to grow oranges, lemons, tomatoes, strawberries, and other flowers. I am super excited about all the plants. I do believe my strawberry pot will need lots of green thumb prayers. The tomatoes are coming along nicely. I already see some small sprouts coming up. 

I have even been good about remembering to water all my plants. I learned one lesson about sunflowers, when it is only one seed you don't have to open the flood gate when you water it. Luckily the sunflower is still living at least I hope. 

Funny story, my lawn care service accidentally weed whacked some of the flowers that my parents planted for me. They were so kind and knocked on our door to let us know what happened. They promised to come back and plant some new flowers and lay out our mulch for us. This is one of the many reasons I love living in the neighborhood that we live in. Well a few days went by and they finally came back with some beautiful hybrid lilies. 

So now I am watering and watching. I can't wait to pick my first fruit. Just call me farmer Hilderbrand.

Super Baby and her side kick Aunt LiLi

Even though I had a blast at MerleFest I was even more excited by the fact that Lisa Harland was in town. Tuesday, we finally got a chance to get together before she has to fly back to California. Lisa was kind enough to drive the whole way up to Statesville to visit Virginia and I at our house. We decided to go visit with our friend Katherine and her baby girl Hannah also. 

We had some time to kill before heading to Katherine's. We stayed at our house and Virginia entertained Lisa. Or is it Lisa entertained Virginia. Lisa automatically won Virginia's heart. Lisa would toss Virginia up and spin her around in circles. Lisa would also hold Virginia non stop and go anywhere Virginia wanted to lead her. Virginia was loving some Lisa.

Finally we packed up and drove over to Katherine's house. This was the first time Lisa or Virginia had met Hannah. Hannah is now three months old and is as cute as a button. Virginia at first didn't know what to make of Hannah. I also don't think Virginia enjoyed the fact that she was not center of attention. Virginia for the first part just played in the kitchen with the baby gates and sat and talked with Max though the back door. Oh Max is Katherine's dog, not sure what they were talking about, but Virginia had alot to tell Max.

After awhile Virginia warmed up and came in the living room to check out Hannah. I was very pleased how gentle Virginia was with Hannah. She gave Hannah a nice light pat pat on her head. Virginia even gave Hannah a kiss on the forehead and arm. I also believe Virginia thought Hannah was the pillsbury dough boy because she kept poking Hannah. Who can't resist poking baby fat. I believe Hannah and Virginia will be best buds.

It was also great to see Katherine's Mom. She came in a day early so we got to visit for awhile with her. She is definetly a shining grandma. Hannah was more then thrilled to see Grandma Marr also. It was great spending the whole afternoon catching up with Katherine and Hannah. It really was just nice having some girl time with Katherine and Lisa.

Not having much rest finally caught up with Virginia. So we packed up and said our goodbyes and headed home. Lisa stayed awhile longer at our house as I downloaded the photos she took of Virginia and Hannah. Then Lisa had to finally say goodbye and hug Virginia and Me. Virginia was not happy at all about letting Lisa leave. She cried and reached for Lisa as the door shut. Virginia continued to cry until finally the backyard squirrel caught her attention.

Until next visit, Super Baby and her side kick Aunt LiLi will have to continue their adventures on skype.
Also between Lisa and I we took tons of photos. You can view all the photos on my facebook profile.

MerleFest 2010 Day 2 and 3

Saturday and Sunday were Day 2 and 3 of MerleFest for us. Virginia came with us again on Saturday. She was loving the Little Pickers' area. We explored the kids area a little more on Saturday. Virginia's favorite part was the huge sand box that all the kids were in playing. Mom, I had to just forget the story you told me. I think a sand box is in our near future. The whole day if Virginia got cranky we just took her to the sand box and she was happy again. I did witness my first experience of big kids taking Virginia's toys in the sandbox. Virginia was a champ and didn't care. She just kept digging and playing.

We listened to a lot more bands on Saturday. I think the highlight was getting to see Steve Martin perform. Yep, you heard me right; Steve Martin, the actor, is also a banjo player. I was very surprised how well he did. He was super entertaining and made us all laugh. I was sad that we didn't get to see Elvis Costello since he didn't come on til well after 9:30 p.m. Virginia held in as long as she could but we had to call it a night at 9:00 p.m.

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers

Sunday, we dropped Virginia off at Grandma and Grandpa Hilderbrand's house. I am so glad Virginia didn't come with us Sunday because it was so hot. I thought I was going to melt into my chair. The whole day there was hardly any shade or breeze. I believe almost everyone was really burned or walked out a lot more tan then they walked in.

Since we didn't have Virginia we were able to enjoy a lot more bands. First up was Jim Avett, The Avett Brother's father. He did great and sounded a lot better then when we heard him at The Muse. I believe that the band that was with him at MerleFest sounded a lot better.

Jim Avett

After Jim we headed over to the main stage to listen to Scythian. They were high energy and had the whole crowd up on their feet dancing.

Scythian... http://www.scythianmusic.com/

After them was another band on the smaller stage playing as they got the main stage ready for the next act.                .

Dehlia Low, http://www.dehlialow.com/

The Lee Boys and the Travelin' McCourys were a mixture of bands and they were amazing. I even found myself up and dancing. I even started to wave my hand up in the air. The main singer was a trip. He was dancing and waving his hand. He was jamming and he sounded great. I believe they were my second favorite band of the weekend. I also enjoyed WPA. They were a more smooth sounding band. But they still pleased my ears.

The Lee Boys and The Travelin’ McCourys 

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.)

Luke Bulla (Lyle Lovett's Big Band), Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) and Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) plus an ensemble of others that changes from time to time.

Glenn Phillips

Then, drum roll please......The Avett Brothers hit the stage. Everywhere you looked you saw heads and people shouting and dancing. The concert was a blast. Even though I was burned and tired from standing and dancing in the sun all day, I still found energy to jump, dance, and shout for my boys!

After the concert, we walked around to the side where all the tour buses were. We saw Bob from the Avett Brothers talking to some of the fans. Unfortunately, it was fenced in. But a few of us stood behind the fence hoping they would come over. To much delight, Joe, Scott, and Seth came over and talked to us. Bob had his baby girl in the bus so he didn't come back out.

We got pictures and handshakes from Joe, Scott, and Seth. I believe I looked like a giddy teenage girl when Scott came over and talked to us. I may never wash my hand again. I didn't stop smiling the whole way home.

The weekend was great and we will definetly be marking our calendar for next year's Merlefest!

Scott Avett (aka my boyfriend)

Seth Avett

Joe Kwon

Also all the great photos were taken by Reiggin Hilderbrand!

MerleFest 2010 Day 1

Reiggin and I have been super excited since last November about going to MerleFest 2010. MerleFest is a large bluegrass and folk music festival in Wilkesboro. I didn't really know what to expect. We also decided to bring Virginia with us the first day. The festival has a Little Pickers' area so we figured maybe there would be things she would enjoy also.  I was more than a little worried about how well Virginia would do all day outside in the sun with crowds of people. Virginia was a champ and behaved perfect.

There were many firsts for Virginia at MerleFest. Once we arrived and found a parking space, we hopped on the bus that was to shuttle us to the Wilkesboro Community College campus where the festival was going on.  This was Virginia's first bus ride. She loved being able to sit on my lap and look out the window.

Our bus driver was very nice, but the funny part was listening in on the bus driver's conversation with another volunteer on the bus. The bus driver was asking the man if he heard that the Grand Dragon had problems with the WTA, another bus system driving people around from the festival. The Grand Dragon is a leader of the KKK. This is not the kind of conversation you expect to hear on your way to a music festival.

After we picked up our tickets at the will call window and had all our bags checked we made it to the Americana Stage. My eyes were amazed at how many people were walking around and covering all the grassy areas. We managed to find a nice spot in the middle. We laid out our blanket and set up our chairs. The Kruger Brothers were performing on the stage. Reiggin is really the huge bluegrass and folk music fan. I still have my training wheels on. The Kruger Brothers were really good. Virginia got out of her stroller and enjoyed the music with us, dancing and clapping along with the crowd.

It was very hot the first day and luckily we had our sunscreen and water. I do wish I had a hat. You know how pale this mommy is. My tan is slowly making a appearance after a long dormant state.

The campus was lovely. After listening to The Kruger Brothers for awhile, we walked around and checked out the campus and all the vendors. There was also a playground in the middle of the campus. We made a pit stop and let Virginia play around on the slides and swings.

We continued walking around and listening to all the bands playing. There were also smaller tents where groups of people were playing their mandolins and other instruments. They even had a small stage where young musicians were playing their music. There was a little bit of everything to enjoy.

We grabbed some cheeseburgers and found a spot  near the main stage to get ready to hear Dierks Bentley. Virginia had another first and got to eat her first snow cone. This was one of the many ways we kept her entertained and peaceful. By this time, it was getting late and close to her bedtime. But one of the main things I was looking forward to was hearing Dierks Bentley. So I bribed Virginia and begged her to hold out until I at least got to hear a few songs by Dierks Bentley. She made it though about three songs and then we had to pack up and head home. I guess a 19 month old little girl has more power than the hotness that is Dierks Bentley.

Overall the day was great and I enjoyed all the music and the time I got to spend with my family. I can't wait to see what Day 2 of MerleFest brings.